The way I clean birds any bird.

I fillet everything usable out.

1.Turn bird on its back.


2.Grab a hunk of skin around the Beard and cut it free. Then trim the excess skin off and save this. You will not need to treat this with anything as it will dry just like it is as long as there is no skin left attached to it.



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3.If you want to save the tail cut it free from the body slightly below the anus of the bird. I'llpost on that later.

4.With a fillet knife (I use a 3 inch or less blade – small Rapala fillet knife my favorite) grab a piece of skin right at the end of the breast and make a small slit through the skin but not into the meat or the stomach cavity.



5.Now cut this all the way to the neck past the breast-bone to the neck. You can rip this too but if it gets caught and starts pulling precious meat with it use your fillet knife. This would be similar to taking the skin off a fish fillet.



Should look like this




6.This is the other end with the crop exposed – notice how clean my hands are.


7.Now make one cut under the skin but not into the leg on each leg and peal the skin/feathers away. Do the same thing with each leg to the very last place of feathers. (Top of the leg joint.)

8.Cut around each leg joint and remove feet.



9.Now remove the crop located in front of the wish bone. This is an air like-sack which will also contain the crop. Remove and as much excess skin as you can.

10.Now with the skin pealed back all from the breast, legs and pushed back to the thigh it is time to cut out our the turkey breast fillets.

11.Look for the keel bone. It is the center top line of the turkey breast as the turkey lays on its back. Make a cut straight down and slightly angled against this bone all the way to the bottom. Make this incision all the way back to the stomach cavity. In the front at the wish-bone cut with the knife down the wish-bone to the shoulder (wing/body joint)

12.Then start filleting from the stomach cavity back towards the wing.

13.At the wing cut it free. There you have one turkey breast fillet out.



14.Do the same to the other side

15.Push one leg flat until it is laying on the table.



16.At the body cut parallel with the body cutting out the top of the thigh




17.Sever the tendons of the hip joint. You should have one thigh/drumstick free.

18. Do the same on the other leg/thigh.


19.Wash the fillets and take off any excess skin membrane and I also cut the thighs from the legs.

20.I them bag and freeze to which I think I might use for a meal.

21.Toss the carcass away…You be done!

Oh save dose wings....